Group delivers supplies and compassion directly to those in need on the streets of Fort Collins, three nights a week.

Nov. 22, 2012

Terry 'Pops' McFarland, left, eats a cracker while sitting with Chris 'Shadow' Conyac Nov. 15 in Old Town Square after receiving a few items, including the crackers, from Homeless Gear. / Sam Noblett/The Coloradoan

Written by

David Rout, left, and Liam Merrithew from Homeless Gear pack bags with gloves, socks, hats, snacks and other items to hand out to the Fort Collins homeless community Nov. 15 near the Fort Collins Library. / Sam Noblett/The Coloradoan

Homeless Gear

What: Homeless Gear provides homeless men, women and children with the supplies that they need to survive on the streets and the support and companionship that they need to navigate the path from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Who to contact: David Rout, outreach coordinator, at

david@homelessgear.org or email him at (970) 682-3193. Volunteer prerequisites: To become “certified,” volunteers must complete a two-hour training and orientation, held on an as-needed basis, and participate in a ride-along for an entire shift with an experienced team. Volunteer responsibilities: Interact and build relationships and provide life-sustaining supplies and referrals to homeless men, women and children at night on the streets of Fort Collins. Time commitment per week: Most volunteers do one or two 31/2-hour shifts per month. Outreach shifts are Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

“It’s a lot more than walking around handing stuff to people. It’s three hours of heartbreak and building relationships with the people we serve. Anything we can do to help people survive on the streets, we do.” David Rout, outreach coordinator and transitions advocate.

Future Causes

Next week Sarah Jane Kyle will share her volunteer experience with Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. Have a charity you love working with? Invite Kyle to tag along for your volunteer hours by emailing SarahKyle@coloradoan.com

Riley, a member of the Fort Collins homeless community, talks with a few of his friends Nov. 15 in Old Town Square Fort Collins. / Sam Noblett/The Coloradoan

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Yesterday, many of you reading this sat down at a table full of turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. You cleared the table while listening to Christmas music for the first sanctioned time of the season. You were surrounded by family and friends (or connected with them on the phone). Life was good.

Today, many of you who eventually will read this are battling other shoppers for the perfect deal in what I can only describe as a scary, scary experience that’s not for the faint of heart.

While you were doing all of this, my friend Riley was trying to find a place to set up camp and stay warm. He was sharing the few snacks he’s been able to find with others. He was telling everyone he met the story of his friend, Ally, a 13-year-old girl who had watched the movie “Pay it Forward” and (with the permission of her mom), gave Riley a bag of bananas, some water and — as he would find after opening the bag of bananas when the teenager left — about $600 that he shared with his homeless friends.

Riley will tell you that he’s “houseless not homeless,” because he’ll always have a home in the friends he meets on the streets and people such as Ally, who want to make a difference in the world — people such as the street outreach team at Homeless Gear, who I was with when I met him.

For those of you who don’t know what Homeless Gear does, here’s a brief synopsis.

Imagine you’re on the streets. It’s 36 degrees or colder on a chilly Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday night and you’re clinging to your friends or a tattered pair of gloves you were able to find. You’re hungry. You’re cold. You’re finding shelter in libraries or coffee shops until closing time, when you’ll have to face another night without a stable roof over your head.

You’re approached by two or three people. They don’t shy away from you; they don’t take the wider route around you. They look you in the eye, ask how you’re doing and listen to what you have to say. And then they offer you food. A sleeping bag. Gloves. A sweatshirt. They ask, “Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” They make sure you have everything possible to help you survive, and give you suggestions and referrals to people who can help you overcome your circumstances and try to get off the streets.

(Page 2 of 2)

This is what Homeless Gear does three nights a week, walking and driving to find the hurting and in need in our community for three- or four-hour shifts, one of which I was able to shadow. I’ve seen homelessness by day. I’ve worked with the agencies, met with people trying to get a foot up and into their home. I’ve known that this issue was real. But on a chilly November Thursday night, I was able to shake the hands and hear the stories of Fort Collins’ homeless population.

And after three hours walking the streets of Fort Collins, I was cold. I was shivering. I was hungry. But unlike the 36 or so people I met that night, I got in my truck and drove home to a relatively warm bed, a pantry with food and a roof over my head. The lucky ones I met would stay the night in a shelter. Others in their cars or trucks. Others wherever they could find a spot to hunker down and try to stay warm.

I thought a lot about Riley and the others I met that night. I still do — I think I always will. I’ll always wish I could do something more, always feel that twinge of thankfulness mingled with humility that I’m blessed with food and shelter, when so many in our community are not. But heartache and a desire to help will only do so much. It takes groups like this to actually make an immediate difference in not only saving someone’s physical life, but reminding them that there is some good in this world and it is possible to come out of that situation.

Shelters are amazing. Food banks and soup kitchens are crucial. But what impressed me most about this experience was the focus on the cold, harsh reality that people need to survive if they can’t make it to those services or there’s “no room at the inn.” The homeless population has lost quite a few of its members recently, even one to a cold, snowy night. A pair of gloves, a sleeping bag, some crackers: these things can save lives — lives like Riley’s.